Objectives of the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft

In 1717 Johann Joachim Winckelmann was born at Stendal and acted since 1763 as chief curator of all antiquities at Rome and in the area around the city. He not only had a profound impact on archaeological research, but his idea of antique culture has deeply and effectively influenced German Classicism as well as European art history.

On December 8th 1940 the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft was founded at Stendal, Winckelmann’s native city. Today, this is an international society of more than 600 members from more than 20 countries. In the society’s statutes it is expressed as a specific objective „to support international research on life, oeuvre and influence of Johann Joachim Winckelmann“ and „to bring together the scholarly disciplines of classical archaeology, art history and German philology that are related to Johann Joachim Winckelmann to facilitate the understanding of intellectual history during the 18th century." Since 2000 the society has served as the governing body of the Winckelmann-Museum.